Sad and wondering

Well, the title sums up how my mornings have been for the past little while. They go something like this:

get up. Run around like a mad woman trying to get organized and out the door on time. Marvel at the sunrise (I love sunrises... there's so much promise and magic in them). Catch train. Look out window on train at lake for the first couple of minutes until the shoreline and rail line part company.

Now, here's where the sad and wondering creep in. Back in spring, I saw a pair of swans had taken up residence in the area of the lakeshore near where a local creek spills into the lake. They're a nice change from the goose commune and the gull infestation.

Lately, there's only been one swan. No mate. No cygnets. Now, I know that swans mate for life, and they're generally pretty much a 'family unit' if there's a hatching. So to only see one where previously there had been a pair generally signifies bad things... like one of them died... and the lack of cygnets would suggest one of them died either before laying, or before hatching. And that makes me sad... because not only has one of these glorious birds apparently died, but another will be alone for the rest of its life (however long or short that may be). And the wondering creeps in as wondering what happened. Did one of them eat something it shouldn't have? (there's a few chemical treatment plants near that creek) Was there a garbage issue (like choking on something not so friendly, or getting noosed on a 6-pack ring or something)? Or was there something more sinister at play? Was one deliberately poisoned or beaten or otherwise killed?

So... sad and wondering is how my days start now :(